Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) Price Target Raised to $185.00

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at Barclays from $178.00 to $185.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the oil and natural gas company’s stock. Barclays‘s target price points to a potential upside of 6.07% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on FANG. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Diamondback Energy from $199.00 to $190.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Diamondback Energy in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $173.00 price target on shares of Diamondback Energy in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Scotiabank set a $175.00 price objective on Diamondback Energy in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Diamondback Energy from $169.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $188.19.

Diamondback Energy Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of FANG traded down $3.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $174.41. The stock had a trading volume of 135,189 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,295,325. The firm has a market cap of $49.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.09 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $159.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $150.41. Diamondback Energy has a twelve month low of $114.00 and a twelve month high of $183.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.40.

Diamondback Energy (NASDAQ:FANG) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 23rd. The oil and natural gas company reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $3.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.41 billion. Diamondback Energy had a net margin of 11.07% and a return on equity of 8.08%. The company’s revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.67 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Diamondback Energy will post 15.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Diamondback Energy

In related news, major shareholder Fang Holdings Lp Sgf sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.88, for a total value of $162,880,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 98,686,727 shares in the company, valued at $16,074,094,093.76. The trade was a 1.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Charles Alvin Meloy sold 60,605 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $161.12, for a total value of $9,764,677.60. Following the transaction, the director owned 982,006 shares in the company, valued at $158,220,806.72. The trade was a 5.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 1,438,516 shares of company stock valued at $225,026,921 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Diamondback Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lifted its stake in Diamondback Energy by 233.9% in the 3rd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 12,673 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $1,814,000 after purchasing an additional 8,877 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Diamondback Energy by 9.6% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 117,733 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $16,848,000 after buying an additional 10,289 shares in the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Diamondback Energy during the third quarter valued at $472,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Diamondback Energy by 9.7% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,385,428 shares of the oil and natural gas company’s stock worth $198,255,000 after buying an additional 122,921 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WoodTrust Financial Corp bought a new position in Diamondback Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,624,000. Institutional investors own 90.01% of the company’s stock.

About Diamondback Energy

Diamondback Energy, Inc (NASDAQ: FANG) is an independent oil and natural gas company focused on the development, exploration and production of unconventional resources in the Permian Basin. Headquartered in Midland, Texas, the company concentrates its operations in the core Midland and Delaware sub‑basins of West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, where it pursues contiguous acreage positions to support repeatable drilling programs.

Diamondback’s activities span the upstream value chain, including leasehold acquisition, well planning, drilling, completion and production optimization.